Adjustable casket bed



J. L. WHITE ADJUSTABLE GASKET BED 2 Sheets-Shea*I 1 Filed Oct. 30, 1962 x J- wv N N NN r NN N May 25, 1965 J. 1 WHITE 3,184,819

' ADJUSTABLE GASKET BED Filed Oct. 50, 1962 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 lin*- W d TTOKNEYJ United States Patent O 3,184,819 ADJUSTABLE GASKET BED .lohn L. White, Knightstown, Ind., assignor to Cas-Craft, Inc., Knightstown, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Get. 3i), 1962, Ser. No. 234,139 4 Claims. (Cl. 2'7--12) This invention relates in general to a bed for a casket and more particularly to a bed whose surface may be readily adjusted within the casket so as to facilitate the arrangement and display of a human body.

In the past, funeral directors have customarily used materials such as straw and excelsior to support a body within a casket. These materials have the disadvantage of being difilcult to handle; they become disarranged when the casket is moved from place to place and tend to pack down in time so that the body i-s likely to change position after it has been arranged by the funeral director. Moreover, if it is desired to change the position of the body for viewing when, for example, it has been shipped in the casket from one funeral home to another, it is generally necessary to remove the body, add excelsior or straw, and arrange the cloth covering to present a smooth external surface before replacing the body. After the body is placed in the casket, it may not be in the proper position or at a proper level and thus it will be necessary to repeat the process. Obviously, this can be time consuming, difllcult and tedious Work.

In order to solve these problems, various attempts have been made to provide the trade with adjustable beds which are ordinarily secured to the casket frame by the manufacturer. In the salesroom where the caskets are inspected by prospective purchasers, these prior art beds may be raised to a position which is a slight distance below the top of the shell, in order to enhance the display.

When a casket is selected and the funeral director proceeds to prepare the body for display, he can raise the bed to its uppermost position to facilitate the placement and proper arrangement of the body on the bed. The body can then be lowered to the desired level for most favorable display by operation of the bed adjusting means.

While these prior art beds have partially solved the problems mentioned above, they have not been entirely satisfactory for a variety of reasons. Known beds must be anchored to the casket end walls which makes them difficult to install in certain types of caskets. Moreover, known beds on the market, have a limited degree of adjustability. While they have the capability of a vertical movement of the entire bed surface, they generally have a relatively small amount of tilt in the horizontal plane. Furthermore, it is frequently desirable that one portion of the bed surface should be raised or lowered without significantly varying the height of the remaining parts, in order to raise or lower various parts of the body to emphasize the most favorable features of the deceased and to conceal injuries or deformities thus enhancing the display. However, since known prior art beds are relatively inllexible, it has not been practical to significantly vary the height of one part of the bed with respect to the remainder. With such beds, it is still frequently necessary to resort .to excelsior or other similar material-s to properly position the body. Finally, known beds provide very little cradling for the body. When the casket is reopened for a last inspection after being transferred to the interment site, it frequently happens that the body has shifted from its carefully arranged position. This can be extremely disconcerting both to the funeral director and to relatives and friends of the deceased.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a casket bed which has a high degree of flexibility and adjustability so as to greatly facilitate the arrangement and display of the body.

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It is a further object of this invention .to provide a casket bed which is extremely light and flexible, yet is low in cost, sturdy and dependable.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a casket bed which is contoured in order to cradle and thereby prevent shifting and sliding of a body.

Another object of this invention is to provide a casket bed which is a completely independent unit and which will llt in all caskets on the market today without the need of special fasteners and brackets to secure it to the casket shell.

In accordance with this invention these and other objects are achieved by a separable bed unit which is adapted to llt within the casket. The bed has a substantially rectangular frame which has elongated side members and lateral spacing elements joined to the side members in such a manner that the side members may be twisted with respect to each other. The bed surface is a flexible body receiving tray which is contoured to cradle a body. The tray is secured to the side members; the tray and frame members defining a longitudinal warpable surface. Legs having independently operable height varying means are secured to the side members.

Other objects .of this invention will appear more fully in the ensuing description in which:

FIGURE l is a sectional view taken along lines 1 1 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a bed formed in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line 3 3 of FIG- URE l.

FIGURE 4 is a view showing details of the frame construction.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the construction of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view showing the bed in a typical adjusted condition.

As shown in the drawings, FIGURES 1-3, the bed is provided with elongated side frame members 2 made of wood, or other material of light Weight and low cost. A plurality of lateral spacing elements 3 are secured to the side members 2 at points intermediate their ends in order to maintain the side members in substantial lateral and longitudinal alignment. In the preferred embodiment, the spacing elements .3 comprise light weight metal channels which lare spaced inwardly of the ends of the side members at substantially uniform intervals. Refenring now to FIGURES 3-5, each channel 3 has a web 4- and downwardly extending portions 5. The legs are cut off at each end of each channel, 'and the projecting portion of the web forms a bendable tab-like portion 6. The tab-like portions are adapted toy lpass through slots 7 provided in metal plates S, which are secured to the side frame members. The portion of each of these plates having the slot extends below the side members a slight distance in order to receive the tabs 6. After the tabs are inserted in the slots they are bent over, forming a joint which secures the channels to the side frame members. The joint permits twisting or warping of the side members with respect to each other due to the hinge-like engagement of the tab 6 with slot 7 and the flexible nature off the tab. The resulting frame provides a strong but highly flexible structure which can be twisted to lower or raise any desired corner of the bed.

As best shown in FIGURES 3 and 6, the frame formed by the side members and channels supports a contoured body receiving tray 9. In the preferred embodiment this tray is made of a material such as corrugated paper which is lo-w in cost and light of weight, yet suillciently strong and flexible. Sheet plastic or other material of a 4relatively flexible nature may obviously be employed. The tray is contoured to cradle a body as best shown in aia/gais FIGURE 3. The sides of the tray are secured to the side frame members by means of tacks or staples 11. Sheet metal screws 12 and relatively large diameter washers 13 may -be used to secure the center of the tray to the lateral spacing j elements.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the exposed surface of the tray is covered with a thin `layer 14 of cotton or a similar cushioning material. A laye-r of silk 15 is stretched over the surface and then tacked or stapled to the frame to provide a smooth external surface. j

Supporting legs 16, best shown in FIGURES l, 5 and 6, are provided adjacent each end of each side member. In order to Vary the height of the entire tray or portions thereof, means are provided to independently adjust each leg. The legs are eachjpiivotally mounted adjacent each end of each side `member by means of a screw or bolt 17. A notched, elongated bracing member 18 is in turn pivotally mounted on the lower end of each leg. Each brace has a plurality of uniformly spaced notches 19 disposed along an edge. The notches 19 are adapted to engage outwardly extending notch-engaging pins Ztl which are disposed on the side members between the leg pivot points 17 and the ends of the side members.` In the illustrative embodiment each notch-engaging pin Zil'comprises ya wood screw 21, secured to the side members through each of the outermost metal plates 8. A pair` of washers 22, spaced apart by a sleeve 23, are mounted on each screw to preventlateral movement ot the associated bracing element ywhen itis moved toV notch-engaging position. Guide pins 24 are secured to the side .members adjacent each of the notch-engaging pins 2d to retain the notched bracing members adjacent Atheir respective pins when disengaged therefrom. To independently -vary the height of a leg and thus the adjacent surface area of the bed, it is necessary to merely raise or lower a notched brace vand to move the appropriate notchinto engagement with its associated notch-engaging pin 20.

Y The projecting yportionY of the brace 18 may then be In FIGURE` said side members, flexible joint meansv between said side members and said spacing elements, said ilexible joint means permitting twisting movement of said side members with respect to each other;

(b) a flexible body receiving tray secured tosaid elongated side members; Y l.

(c) saidvframe and said flexible tray dehning. a longitudinally warpable surface; Y

(d) a pair Vof axially spaced legs mounted on each side member for supporting said bed within they body receiving space;

(e) and means Ifori independently varying the height of each of said legs. f

2. The bed unit of claim l wherein:

(a) each of said jointrmeans comprises a plate secured to -the side member and having a portion thereof extending downwardly from said side member;

(b) said downwardly extending portion having a slot, and wherein the end of the adjacent spacing element has a flexible tab portion passing outwardly through saidslot and then downwardly therefrom.

3. The bed unit of claim 1 wherein said means for varying the height of each leg includes:

(a) pivotal mounting ymeans for each .of said legs,

spaced inwardly from'the ends of said sideV members;

(b) a bracing member pivotally mounted on each of `said legs;

(c) arsupport pin on the side'of the frame for each ofl References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS f nausea 1/00 Gerwe c 27 '12 646,542 4/00 Lively Y Y5---238 2,118,780 5/38y Robinson ;e 5-82 2,172,609 9/359` Fogg Vc 7-12 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. v 

1. FOR A CASKET HAVING A SHELL DEFINING A BODY RECEIVING SPACE, A SEPARABLE BED UNIT ADAPTED TO FIT WITHIN SAID SPACE, SAID UNIT COMPRISING: (A) A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FRAME COMPRISING ELONGATED SIDE MEMBERS, LATERAL SPACING ELEMENTS BETWEEN SAID SIDE MEMBERS, FLEXIBLE JOINT MEANS BETWEEN SAID SIDE MEMBERS AND SAID SPACING ELEMENTS, SAID FLEXIBLE JOINT MEANS PERMITTING TWISTING MOVEMENT OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER; (B) A FLEXIBLE BODY RECEIVING TRAY SECURED TO SAID ELONGATED SIDE MEMBERS; (C) SAID FRAME AND SAID FLEXIBLE TRAY DEFINING A LONGITUDINALLY WARPABLE SURFACE; (D) A PAIR OF AXIALLY SPACED LEGS MOUNTED ON EACH SIDE MEMBER FOR SUPPORTING SAID BED WITHIN THE BODY RECEIVING SPACE; (E) AND MEANS FOR INDEPENDENTLY VARYING THE HEIGHT OF EACH OF SAID LEGS. 